Marvel Alternate Reality: Friendship - A Scarlet Spider Fanfiction
by CrimsonArachnida
Summary: "A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow." - William Shakespeare. From the author that brought you "The Sins of Kaine", comes a tale that explores friendship. As Kaine Parker was burdened by his fears, his close friend Annabelle Adams was concerned and decided to comfort him.


_Special thanks to an amazing friend of mine (from Wattpad, her username is Taebear95) for allowing me to take inspiration from her for the character Annabelle Adams. She's amazing! 3 (Annabelle Adams is a character featured in the 2012 Scarlet Spider storyline.)__Also, thanks to a Wattpad author (James Kingdom) for the feedback and a Wattpad fanfic author (expectospatronums) for her response that encouraged me to publish this one-shot fanfic. Appreciate it, guys!__Btw.. sorry for not being so active. I was busy developing many stories, including this one. I hope you understand. Anyway, happy reading!_

_Disclaimer: This fanfiction is created for entertainment only. All rights to Marvel properties, characters, names, etc. etc. belong to Marvel Comics, Marvel Entertainment, and Walt Disney. I do not own them except OCs.__Written by: CrimsonArachnida__Based on "Amazing Fantasy #15" and "Scarlet Spider Vol. 2" by Marvel Comics._

_A/N #1: Hey peeps! Okay this is just a random one-shot based on ideas that I have for a Scarlet Spider AU fanfic. I took some of them and made it into this. This is a prototype and experiment to the said fanfic. Also, it continues the "Alternate Universe/What If?/Elseworlds" style from "The Sins of Kaine" fanfic. (Don't forget to check it out) I hope you enjoy it! Oh and there are some nods to the "Clone Saga" and Christopher Yost's "Scarlet Spider" storylines. Let me know in the comments when you find them!__This one-shot takes place in an alternate universe (like "The Sins of Kaine"), where the "Clone Saga" don't happen. Which means no Spider-Man clones are created. Instead events and roles play out differently. And Kaine (a clone in the comics) is not a clone but Ben and May's only son. Also, Peter still has his parents. I hope you understand. And enjoy reading!_

_(dark, cold evening...)_

Inside a dark bedroom, Kaine was resting on his bed..listening to tingles with earphones to help him sleep...

But he couldn't. The teen was burdened by the fact he was slowly dying and he did something terrible at school. He hurt the school jock and bully, Flash Thompson.. ruthlessly. And his friend.. was horrified with what happened.

Now... he might lose his close friend.. the person that he loved.. the thing that he feared most.

Sighing, he stopped listening and stood up, walking towards his mirror. He inspected his slightly scarred face.. and tears slowly flowed from his eyes. Silently wishing that he had never got bitten by the imperfect superspider. The bite gave him abilities but impaired his mental and mind, and slowly killing him.

Then, a ball rang. It was his close friend, Annabelle Adams. She decided to visit him after Kaine skipped school, concerned with him.

The young Parker headed out his bedroom and opened the door, looking at the redhead with a pessimistic one. Recalling her shocked reaction when he hurt Flash.

"Are you going to call me a monster like the others...? And ignore me..?" Kaine spoke in a broken, somber tone.

Anna shook her head and quickly hugged Kaine, comforting him. She still cared for him despite the incident at school. But there were things that she couldn't comprehend of why her friend did that. She knew Kaine was bullied by Flash since he was in primary school. He kept holding back because he was weak and afraid. But this was not him...

"No, Kaine. Why would I do that..? The one that understood and cared for me. I don't care what they say. You are my close friend. And that's all that matters."

Kaine sighed in relief and hugged back, feeling warm. The teen cried a little..relieved that he still had her. That she still cared for him, as Peter and his parents did.

The two stared at each other, smiling..reminded of the moments when they comforted each other at their lowest.

Anna wiped his tears, "I always got your back, bud." The redhead winked at him.

However... when he heard that.. Kaine looked down... recalling a past moment where he wasn't there for his friends. The brunet kept questioning himself whether he deserved to be Anna's friend or not. But he believed he didn't deserve her, as he couldn't trust himself.

Anna noticed that her close friend was looking down. She sighed, knowing what Kaine was thinking.

"It's okay, Kaine. I forgive you.." she looked at his eyes with gentle, "I do."

Kaine looked at her too... with somber and pain.

_"But I can't forgive myself... because I know that I might hurt you one day, Anna... That I might hurt my friend..." _(*Kaine's thoughts/inner voice)

The young Parker sighed and said to her to come inside, decided that it's useless for him to keep thinking about that. They entered inside and went to his bedroom. The two sat close to each other on his bed.

"Peter's not here, huh..?"

Anna sighed, remembering that Kaine's cousin, Peter, told her that he couldn't visit Kaine with her. Peter had to stay at school for a group assignment.

"Yeah.. He had to stay at school. Group assignment. He couldn't ignore it, K. And he's very sorry..."

The youngster sighed too.. at least Anna's here for him.

The redhead turned around and noticed his phone with earphones plugged. Sighing, she looked at Kaine..

"You've been listening to ASMR..?"

"Yeah.. and.. it didn't work." Kaine sighed, "I thought it could help me sleep.. but no..."

The redhead felt his burdens and sighed.. then noticed Kaine's facial scars. (*Nod to Marvel's Clone Saga)

She looked concerned with those.. "Kaine..? Is there a cure...?"

The teen turned to Anna, feeling hopeless.. "No, Ann... I don't think so.."

The redhead sighed but tried to stay positive, "Maybe there is. Who knows?"

"Well... Uncle Richard is trying to find one.. He's a scientist but.. I'm just not sure."

Feeling too gloomy, he decided to reference movies.

"Gosh, this is getting more like that David Cronenberg movie." (*David Cronenberg's The Fly)

Anna rolled her eyes and laughed, "Really? Pop culture references?"

"Hey I'm just trying to lighten the mood." Both laughed for a bit...

Kaine looked down.. recalling the protagonist of the movie losing his humanity... and dying. And the fact that he didn't really have dreams nor life purposes.. scared him.

"I don't want to die... not when I'm young..."

Anna listened to Kaine intently..

"For years.. I don't have dreams nor purposes... not even a single one...", Kaine began to cry, "This is not how I want to die... But if I don't have one.. what will...?"

The redhead comforted him and tried to brighten him up.

"Well.. I'm not the kind of person who is going to give a speech. But.. do you have anything that you love doing? That makes you keep trying to do it, no matter what."

The brunet remembered his love for storytelling. The one that became his life purpose. He had forgotten it because of his impaired mind.

"Y-yeah... And you just made me remember it."

Anna looked at her friend confusedly.. "What do you mean?"

Kaine then began to explain while recalling past events, "Remember the field trip to Oscorp?"

She nodded and Kaine continued, "The black widow spider that bit me. I heard that it was.. a superspider. Dying because of a failed engineering process. And.. I share her flawed DNA. It's killing me and.. changing my mind slowly..."

Anna felt the pieces were together now. Kaine hurt Flash because of his impaired mind. She had known Kaine for sometime and thought he would never do such thing. Because his cousin, Peter, and his family would encourage him not to take revenge.

Feeling his anguish, she pulled and embraced Kaine.

"Don't let go of your dream.. your purpose, Kaine. Don't give up on it. Please remember it.."

The young Parker was surprised.. and slowly embraced her too.

"I'm glad I met you, Anna.. You are an amazing friend for me."

"So am I, Kaine.You are amazing too." Both looked at each other's eyes and shared a smile.

Anna's phone rang. It was her time to go.

"Oh shoot. Gotta go, Kaine. I have to help my parents at the hotel."

"The hotel, huh?"

The two looked at each other, recalling the moment they met at Four Seasons Hotel.

Anna worked as a bartender and singer at the hotel's restaurant owned by her parents. Kaine and Anna had met when they were still in their junior high school years. The youngster met her when he ordered a drink and slowly began a friendship. (*based on 2012 Scarlet Spider Vol. 2)

They both smiled, filled with nostalgia.

"Hey.. Say to your parents that I said hi and wished them good luck."

Anna nodded, "I will."

She stood up and headed towards the door of his apartment suite. Before that, Kaine opened the door for her. Thanking her friend, she headed out.

"Wait!"

Anna turned around and looked at Kaine's brown eyes, "What is it, Kaine?"

The brunet walked towards her, looking at her green eyes. He then kissed her cheek, filled with kindness and trust.

The redhead smiled. She didn't stop Kaine. Because she trusted her close friend and believed he wouldn't hurt her.

"Take care, okay?"

Anna smiled, "You too." She then winked and waved at Kaine before exiting his apartment.

Kaine smiled and headed back to his bedroom, feeling relaxed and a bit confident. As if his burden was gone, lifted. He then began listening to some tingles before drifting to sleep.

_A/N #2: So this one-shot is about Kaine and Annabelle's friendship. It was based on real-life experience, some of them. I tried experimenting with this one. And you'll probably notice some bits of Kaine's new backstory, although it's not fully revealed.__A/N #3: I included ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) or tingles in this fanfic because Kaine was depressed. He was trying to relax, to forget his fears but he couldn't. He was still tense, scared. I took inspiration from my experience of listening to ASMR. Most of the times, I'm relaxed so ASMR works on me. But if I'm tense, it doesn't.__For those who doesn't know ASMR, it is a form of tingles caused by certain sounds (audio stimuli) or visuals (visual stimuli) to help the user relax. Some users suffer from depression, anxiety, and more (I knew this from Gibi ASMR).__So, what do you think of it? And what do you think of the different take for Kaine as a non-clone and Peter as his cousin? Let me know in the comments! And don't forget to vote and share this one-shot! Cya, peeps! And have a good day ;)_


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